Hideaway by Nicole Lundrigan

☆☆☆☆☆
Kindle Edition, 324 pages
Published July 9th 2019 by Viking and Penguin Random House Canada
About the Book:
Gloria Janes appears to be a doting suburban mother and loving wife. But beyond her canary-yellow door, Gloria controls her husband, Telly, as well as seven-year-old Maisy and her older brother Rowan, through a disorienting cycle of adoration and banishment. When Telly leaves, Gloria turns on Rowan. He runs away, finding unlikely refuge with a homeless man named Carl, with whom he forms the kind of bond he has never found with his parents. After they are menaced by strangers, Rowan follows Carl to an isolated cottage, where he accidentally sets off a burst of heightened paranoia in Carl, and their adventure takes a dark turn. Gloria is publicly desperate for the safe return of her son while privately plotting ever wilder ways to lure Telly home for good. Her behaviour grows more erratic and her manipulation of Maisy begins to seem dedicated toward an outcome that only she can see. The two storylines drive relentlessly toward a climax that is both shocking and emotionally riveting.

I was nothing. I was a stupid kid, with no mom. With no dad.
Getting what I deserved. And I didn’t even care.Another Canadian author who, I am pleased to say, wrote an incredible read. I wanted something different and got it. From the moment I began reading I was so engrossed in this disturbing novel that I felt I was there with Maisy and even Rowan. There are two narrative perspectives and the chapters alternate between the two, Maisy and Rowan. The author did an amazing job putting a voice to a seven year old girl and a thirteen year old boy. I was really impressed. I don’t know how she does it, but each book Nicole Lundrigan writes is better than the last. The characters are complex, the plot is engrossing, the pacing and tension are masterful, and the final act is absolutely stunning.

This book has some disturbing content but really holds your interest. The story is so moving and intense that I wanted to do nothing more than read it to the end, but there came a part of it that was so suspenseful that I had to stop and gather some fortitude to continue. I found this book to be totally captivating. Each time I had to put it down, I could not wait to get back to it. The underlying situation is revealed from the view point of the children experiencing it. It is a horrifying story and yet gentle in its child-like approach. Ms. Lundrigan’s characters are easily recognizable as people in your everyday life. They look like and live like us and this is what makes Hideaway so effective. The dialogue is smooth, the prose is subtle and the tension continues to build for over 320 delectable pages.

Thank you NetGalley, Nicole Lundrigan, Viking and Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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